State Supreme Court disciplines 2 lawyers

One Spokane lawyer has been disbarred and another suspended from practicing law for three years by the Washington State Supreme Court for separate transgressions regarding their clients’ finances. Robert E. Beach III has been suspended for failing to comply with the rules of professional conduct regarding his handling of client accounts, according to court records. Also last week, David Hellenthal was disbarred after he refused to return clients’ money after they learned Hellenthal had been suspended for other previous financial transgressions. According to court records, Hellenthal helped two women in 2007 obtain control of their ailing husbands’ property or finances without consulting the husbands. In one case, Hellenthal set himself up to receive a client’s $170,000 inheritance if the client died.